


twin-flames (nothing can keep them apart)

by pedrettisbitch



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27260446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pedrettisbitch/pseuds/pedrettisbitch
Summary: “This is for you, your American boyfriend sent them and…” She stopped and pulled a paper out off one of her pockets, she handed Dani the bouquet, the blonde accepted it feeling guilty to be checking this girl out when Eddie was trying to be nice to her. “He asked me to send it with a letter, but we ran out of letters and it would be a crime to give such a beautiful lady a dirty piece of paper, so here we go.” She cleared her throat and Dani felt like she was going to faint by how attractive that woman looked. “Dani, my love, I miss you so much and I think I love you more each day that goes by! I hope London has been treating you nice and that those kids are taking good care of you. I can’t wait to see you! With much love, your soulmate.”She knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t help but think what if the message wasn’t from Eddie and in fact those words belonged to the florist in front of her, and something told her that the woman wondered that too. They kept looking into each other’s eyes for God knows how long until the sound of someone opening the building’s door startled them. The unknown woman softly smiled and took a step back, Dani instinctively stepped forward.
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie
Comments: 3
Kudos: 175





	twin-flames (nothing can keep them apart)

“Our universe grants every soul a twin-a reflection of themselves -the kindred spirit - And no matter where they are or how far away they are from each other- even if they are in different dimensions, they will always find one another. This is destiny; this is love.”  
\- Julie Dillon  
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"One day you will meet a beautiful man with your name marked on his arm and his will be marked on you too and then you will get married and live happily ever after. It’s all written!" Her mother told her when she was five, the blonde girl had no idea what she was talking about but the idea of ‘happily ever after’ sounded nice so she clapped her hands together with a smile on her face. It didn't take long until she found her soulmate, well, until he found her. Eddie, one of the guys at school went running after her saying he had her name on his wrist, and he really did, but his name was not marked on Dani.

"Mom, you said that soulmarks appear at the same time, I don't have his name on me, it can't be him!" Her mother said to give it time, that eventually his name would appear, that soulmates were never far from home.

“That’s just how it works Danielle!” 

They dragged it for weeks, months and eventually years. Dani knew deep down inside of her that Eddie wasn't the person she was meant to be with, but how could she turn him down when he was so sweet to her? How could she let her own family and his family down like that? Years went by and they remained together, people would say that the universe played a prank on them by not giving her his name, Edmund would say that it just proved how much love they felt for each other, they didn't need marks to keep them together. Dani deeply disagreed, she was 100% sure that if it wasn't for the mark she would not be with him, it just didn't feel right to be with him. To be honest, she never felt anything with him.

When they finished school, Eddie got accepted to a local University and his family was filled with joy, they wanted him close to home, they wanted Dani close too. She got accepted to the same University, but she threw the papers at the trashcan the same moment she opened it and read the “Congratulations Danielle Clayton!”. She told everyone they declined her. They all said it was a shame that the college lost her, Eddie said they would find a way to make it work, her mother reassured her that everything was going to be okay. 

Two weeks later the papers from University of London came. She was accepted. The problem was that no one knew she had applied to it, it was just way too far from home, far from Eddie, and if she was going to be honest that was the whole point. It took her one whole month of convincing to make her mom accept the idea and then there was Edmund with his harsh tone saying she would not go. Dani couldn't care less to what he thought, she was going to London whether he liked or not and when he finally understood that he got scared of losing his girlfriend, his soulmate. So, in an attempt to keep himself on Dani's life he encouraged her, helped her to search for apartments and to search for jobs, she chose to be a nanny to two kids, it was probably going to help her to learn how to deal with children. 

“It’s going to help you with the teacher thing, but I don’t know, it sounds pretty… poor.” He spoke with a laugh and she rolled her eyes, of course he would say something like that.

One day before her flight he proposed to her. She was shocked to say the least, how dumb could he be to not realize she was running away from their relationship? She choked on her own words and looked at him on his knees, everyone on the restaurant watching the scene, her mother feeling anxious for the boy said "Yes" for her, saying that Dani was so happy that she couldn't bring her voice to come out. It was ridiculous, but Eddie followed with it. That night Dani cried every single tear she had held back all those years, she poured her heart into her pillow so her mother wouldn't hear her and she promised herself that she would never come back. The new ring on her finger burned against her skin, the girl was totally aware that she should break up with her boyfriend, well, fiancé. But she just couldn't bring herself to do it. So, she hops on that plane and pray to god for Eddie to find someone else while she’s away, she prays for him to find the so called "Danielle" that was actually meant for him, she prays to find her own soulmate too. What is really funny since she does not believe in God since third grade.

After three months in London Dani understood what tranquility meant. Flora and Miles were good kids and take care of them some hours per day helped her relive the tension from college. Their mother, Charlotte, was actually one of Dani's teachers and their father, Dominc, had a law firm in the centre of town. They lived in a big and fancy manor in the outskirts of London, but normally Dani would take care of the two children at her own apartment, it was easier for them all in that way. 

Some nights Edmund would call and they would chat, but she preferred when they just e-mailed each other, hearing his voice always reminded her that she was actually almost married. She didn't use the ring anymore, the small piece of jewelry now forgotten inside one of Dani's drawers. One day specifically Eddie called and he said he had plans of going to London during their Summer Break, speaking about how much he missed her and that his heart was almost falling out of his chest. She silently cried thinking how a fucking bad person she was for doing that to him, maybe they were really meant for each other, but she was broken, like a toy that went out of the fabric already messed up, it was not his fault. 

When they ended the call, she searched for one of the only things that helped her to feel at peace in moments like that. A picture of her and an old friend, Viola, at the school’s stairs. The day the picture was taken they had just met and Dani felt genuinely happy for the first time in so long. At the time Dani was fifteen and Viola was nineteen, the older girl was new to town and she was working on the school during their summer program of art. Dani liked her for multiple reasons, but the main one was that she was always saying how much she hated the whole soulmate drama and it used to give Dani hope. Viola also taught the blonde girl about twin flames and karmic partners. 

“Listen Dani, we can have plenty of soulmates in the same life, your mother can be your soulmate, one of your teachers can be your soulmate, God, even I can be your soulmate! The really important thing is who is actually your twin-flame, the mark is not about the soulmate like people speak of, the mark is about your twin-flame, the other part of your soul. Sometimes, actually, a LOT of times, the path to find your twin-flame is really fucked up, some people never find it cause they’re not even in the same life as them, but once you find the person everything in your life will be easier because you’ll just feel complete.” Dani was breathless, she admired Viola so much, that girl was like a living dream. While she took another hit at the joint Dani watched her with pure admiration in her eyes. “But… there’s also karmic partners, those people who you are intended to meet so you can learn something about life, normally those relationships are shitty, like, really fucked up, and it’s the same thing as soulmates, you can have a lot of karmic partners in one life, my mother had one or two, they were pretty fucked up men that twisted her and broke her heart in the worst way…” Her eyes were focused on something in the distance, Dani tried to follow but she spoke first. “I know about you and your boyfriend, he has your name on him and all that, it’s a small city and people here have this stupid idea that their soulmate, twin-flame, whatever, will be here too, but the world is big and this is just a really stupid thought. This idiot idea started in the really old days, since people wouldn’t travel by fear of what they could find they just created this myth that your person is always born close to you, that’s really not how it works. I can see you feel nothing for him and I’m sorry for… all of that. I’ve been there once and I know how fucked up it is…” 

Turns out Viola was running from her past, just like Dani is now, she had a “designed” boyfriend and she knew deep inside of her that it wasn’t right, so she scaped her town and then her country, she travelled over the United States trying to find her twin-flame, and one day she really found him. He was 3 years older than Viola and he was a musician, she fell in love with him right away, one night she appeared at Dani’s house with a smile on her face and a backpack, Dani knew what that meant. They said goodbye and Viola said she was sorry for leaving Dani behind, maybe they really were soulmates after all. Two weeks later she received a letter from Viola, she was in Canada living her best life and she promised Dani that she was going to come back to help her find her twin-flame too. Two years had passed and Viola never came back.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Sometimes, while the kids were asleep, Dani would sit on her balcony and watch the people walking on the streets, the thing about living in a city like London is that there’s always different faces and there’s always a lot of things happening. For example, right now there’s a guy asking a girl’s hand in marriage in front of a flower shop, the girl looked genuinely happy, like Dani was supposed to have felt when Eddie asked her. The woman of course said yes and jumped right into his arms, everyone clapped and some old ladies had tears in their eyes. The guy that worked at the bakery on the other side of the street gave them two cupcakes, everyone seemed so happy for something so stupid. She took a deep breath in and looked at the kids sleeping oh her couch, her eyes then flew to a picture of her, her mom and her dad.

Her mother used to tell her how good she felt when she found her father, how suddenly all of her worries went away. They met each other in a summer vacation: she was fifteen and he was eighteen, her parents tried to keep them apart but nothing seemed to be capable of separating them. They got married as soon as she made eighteen and soon after they were waiting for Dani. The blonde woman used to have a real family, but it didn’t last long, on Dani’s ninth birthday her father ran away with a model, her mother became angry all the time and started to drink like that could save her life, like that would bring the man she loved back. His name on her skin looked more like a scar as years went by.

One night, Dani told her mother that maybe he was not her soulmate, there were plenty of other Roberts in the world, he was probably not the right one. “That’s not how it works Dani, and you know that.” Her mother then just grabbed her keys and went to who the hell knew where. That was the first time Dani slept alone in her house.

A knock on the door drifted her back to reality, trying not to wake the kids up she walked quietly, the person knocked again and Flora opened her eyes, Dani spoke a soft “I’m sorry!” but the child just smiled to her nanny and went back to sleep. When she opened the door it was one of the moments that Dani was sure she was never going to forget, right in front of her stood one of the prettiest woman she has ever seen. 

“Hey, are you Dani Clayton?” Her voice was enchanting too, she wore a black overall and a white T-shirt, her brown hair falling perfect against her face and then Dani saw her blue eyes and she felt exactly like Viola once said: “Dani, when you meet your twin-flame it will feel like home, but also like you’re riding a car at 200mph, you will want to kiss them so badly, but also to just keep looking at them. It’s like magic.” 

“Yes, can I help you?” The woman raised one eyebrow and smiled at her, her gaze lingering over Dani before she looked at the bouquet in her hands.

“This is for you, your American boyfriend sent them and…” She stopped and pulled a paper out off one of her pockets, she handed Dani the bouquet, the blond accepted it feeling guilty to be checking this girl out when Eddie was trying to be nice to her. “He asked me to send it with a letter, but we ran out of letters and it would be a crime to give such a beautiful lady a dirty piece of paper, so here we go.” She cleared her throat and Dani felt like she was going to faint by how attractive that woman looked. “Dani, my love, I miss you so much and I think I love you more each day that goes by! I hope London has been treating you nice and that those kids are taking good care of you. I can’t wait to see you! With much love, your soulmate.” 

She knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t help but think what if the message wasn’t from Eddie and in fact those words belonged to the florist in front of her, and something told her that the woman wondered that too. They kept looking into each other’s eyes for God knows how long until the sound of someone opening the building’s door startled them. The unknown woman softly smiled and took a step back, Dani instinctively stepped forward. 

“Thank you, do I have to pay for something?” She sounded breathless and the other woman looked from her eyes to her lips, everything was so intense. 

“No, if you had to he would be a real arsehole.” She laughed and Dani smiled at the sound, that suddenly became her favorite song. “Well, that’s it… hm, I hope you have a nice day.” She finished weirdly and started to turn away, but before she could take a step forward Dani grabbed her hand. 

“What’s your name?” She asked like her life depended on it, and maybe it did. 

“Jamie. Jamie Taylor.” 

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Jamie. Dani repeated that name over and over in her head. A week had passed since their encounter and all she could think of was that girl and how she wanted to know her, to see her, to hear her, to kiss her. The last thought made her groan. For fuck sake she was engaged she shouldn’t be thinking of kissing other people, but then again, who else would she be thinking of kissing? Eddie? God, she didn’t even remember the last time they kissed for real, she doesn’t even know if it ever happened, and still, he had the courage to ask her to marry him. Was he really delusional or was he just in love? She closed her eyes and rubbed her hands on her face, sometimes she wishes she could just turn her head off for some hours.

Today was the last day of college for at least two weeks and she felt like a weight had been lifted of her shoulders, she also didn’t need to take care of the kids since they were travelling with their parents, basically she had nothing to do except sit around and think, what was actually much worse than work. Looking around she thought that her flat could use some decoration, since her arrival, she had changed nothing in that place and it was honestly so boring. The only thing in there that didn’t look boring was the beautiful bouquet Jamie gave her- Eddie gave her. She was trying to keep the flowers alive, because of Jamie, but she had no idea of how to take care of them and they were slowing dying. Dani related to those flowers more than she would admit.

Two hours later she was standing inside the flower shop looking at those beautiful and healthy plants, she had always loved tulips and roses, her gramma had a garden full of those two flowers and she loved to go there when she was a kid. The sound of someone cleaning their throat stole her attention and when she turned around there she was, looking like someone that just came out of a movie scene, with some dirt on her left cheek and a smile on her face. Dani was mesmerized, but when her eyes travelled down she saw Jamie holding a small piece of cloth covered in blood. 

“God, are you alright?” She said looking at the wounded hand, Jamie looked at the hand too and opened her mouth to speak getting interrupted by a customer coming in. 

“Jamie darling! Are my flowers ready?” The old lady that just came in spoke not aware that the florist was basically bleeding to death. Jamie smiled at Dani and walked towards the back of the shop, coming out not long after holding two small pots.

“Here you go, if you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask, okay?” Dani felt weird watching the conversation so she turned her attention back to the flowers she was looking before, when she spotted what seemed like a sunflower she walked further into the shop, looking down a small trace of blood caught her eyes, it ended in a pot of cactuses that also had a little bit of blood in them. Shit, that must’ve hurt. “A pretty lady came in and I stupidly squeezed one of my small friends in my hands…” Jamie spoke behind her.

She turned around and felt her cheeks burning due to the compliment and the smirk the brunette had in her face. “You should look at your hands, so the wound doesn’t get infected.” Jamie looked at her palm that was full of small bruises, Dani shifted in place wanting to offer herself to help the woman, but knowing they didn’t know each other and Jamie could think she was a weirdo. 

“Since you are the cause of me getting distracted, I think you should help me…” Jamie was joking, that was her way of dealing with pretty girls around her. Dani laughed and took a step forward, her hands grabbing Jamie’s and suddenly her heart was beating faster like it never had before. She wanted to look up so bad, she could feel Jamie looking at her and all she wanted to do was to stare back, but she was too afraid that her heart would take control of her and her lips would crash onto Jamie’s. 

“Do you have a bathroom and a first aid kit?” 

Five minutes later and they were sitting in a sofa inside the shop’s small cabin with Jamie’s hand on Dani’s lap and the first aid kit open on their feet. The blonde woman refused to connect their eyes and Jamie understood and found it funny since the other girl had a soulmate, what was she so afraid off? “You need to clean it at least thrice a day but I would recommend that you clean it like five or six times, the wounds are pretty small so they will heal fast. Since you work with plants and a lot of dirt try to keep it covered so nothing goes inside… If by any chance you notice that your hand is like fucked up, go to see a doctor or something.” 

“Like I’m doing right now?” Jamie kept her hand in Dani’s lap and the girl didn’t seem to be bothered by that, their eyes locked together while they talked, the fact that Jamie was supposed to be working forgotten in the depths of her mind. 

“Not at all, I’m way far from being a doctor.” Dani was scared that at any second she was going to wake up and realize it was all a dream, I mean, the universe wouldn’t be that nice to her, right?

“So, what are you?” The bell chimed and they both knew the moment had ended, but they stood in place like the world belonged to them. 

“A nanny.” She laughed a little at that, she loved the kids but sometimes she felt like her job wasn’t a real one, just like Eddie had told her. Jamie raised her eyebrow and retrained her hand, her blue eyes analyzing Dani’s face like she had to memorize every part of it. 

“Courageous you.” They laughed and Jamie pondered what she could say next that wouldn’t feel like she was hitting on the American girl even though she really wanted to do that. ‘She has a soulmate Jamie.’ She repeated in her head like a mantra, but still couldn’t shake the feeling that started to rise within her since she saw the blonde woman for the first time. That girl was mesmerizing.

“Someone here?” 

Dani’s eyes went wide. She wouldn’t be that unlucky, right? 

“Hello?” 

Eddie was there. She closed her eyes and allowed her head to fall on her hands, it was like the universe was punishing Dani for going after Jamie. When she opened her eyes again the florist was no long in front of her, she wanted to stay there and hide from her fiancé, she wanted to act like he was no longer a part of her life. But he was. Getting up and stepping out she watched as Jamie made a bouquet, one that she was sure he was going to gift her. Eddie was standing there with his hands behind his back and his eyes looking at Jamie like he was superior than her, Dani knew that look because that’s the way he looked at her when she decided to go to London.

“Hi…” Dani knew her voice was different than before and she saw how Jamie frowned at her, the woman was probably expecting her to stay inside. She was expecting it too.

“Dani! My love, I was just buying a bouquet for you, did you like the one I sent you the other day?” Eddie sounded like a child proud of himself, but the blonde girl was only paying attention to Jamie as the florist realized that the man standing by her side was actually Dani’s soulmate. The brunette looked at the flowers in her hands and turned around, her focus drifting back to her job. Dani felt like she had lost any chance of having something with that woman.

“Yes, Jamie’s plants are wonderful.” 

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Dani was looking at the ceiling feeling Eddie’s breath hitting the side of her face, his arms around her waist and their legs tangled together, her heart was feeling heavy at each beat, it was like she was getting suffocated by her own brain. The clock on her nightstand sounding way too loud for such a small object, the smell of the flowers that Eddie gave her a few days prior invading her nostrils and making her feel like she was cheating on the man by her side.

The American went to the flower shop again one day after Eddie’s arrival, but Jamie was not there, instead an older and pretty lady, that Dani discovered was called Hannah, smiled at her and explained that Jamie was feeling a little sick that day so she didn’t manage to go to work. The nanny was worried that the wounds on Jamie’s hand had gotten worse, so she went there the next day too and watched as Jamie talked to a woman around their age with a pretty smile on her face. Don’t get her wrong, she was not jealous, but when she saw it Dani remembered that no matter what she was feeling the world would keep going without caring about her, like it always did.

Eddie was trying to be a good boyfriend, he bought her flowers, made her dinner, bought her some clothes and he even ignored the fact that she was not using the engagement ring when he arrived. Dani knew he was going to ask for something. So, she did her best to avoid any deep conversation, when he tried to start any talk that was more than two sentences long she ran of it the best she could. She knew her excuses weren’t going to last forever, so she stayed up at night trying to prepare herself for the “special night” Edmund said he was preparing for them. 

Turns out she was not prepared.

“You want to move here?” She was looking at him with pure disbelief in her eyes while he was just smiling like that was really a good idea. 

“After college, yes.” The waitress came in and placed the dessert in front of them, Dani felt like she was about to throw up due to Eddie’s dumb idea. 

“That’s years from now.” He frowned and grabbed her hand above the table, his touch feeling more like a hot steel on her skin, she straightened her postured and grabbed the wine glass averting his gaze.

“Yes, but I think we should start to plan that already. I liked London, it’s a beautiful city and I like your flat, it needs a little bit more of life, but it’s comforting.” Dani agreed with the last part, her flat really needed more life in it, just like she needed it in her. “I also think we should start to plan our wedding.”

“Eddie…” 

“Danielle, you accepted to get married with me, why do you act like it’s a bother for you?” 

“My mother accepted it, I didn’t.” When she finished the phrase, she instantly regretted opening her mouth in the first place, his hand squeezed her a little more and he looked away, maybe he was scared to look in her eyes and see the truth hanging in there. “I just think we’re too young.” 

“Our parents were the same age when they got married!” 

“And see how it turned out, our mothers are completely alone…” He looked at her with pity in his eyes and she knew he had understood it all wrong.

“I’m never going to leave you Dani, I love you.” And she knew it was true, he was never going to leave her and she was never going to be brave enough to go away. That was her biggest fear.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Look, my favorite American girl…” Jamie smiled and placed the bag of fertilizer above the balcony and took her gloves off, the way she moved making Dani’s heart beat faster and faster. She wondered if that’s how people felt when they found their twin-flame. She could get used to it.

“Do you know any other?” The florist raised her eyebrow at that and laughed, her back leaning against the wooden counter, to see Dani among those flowers was one of the most precious things in the world.

“Even if I did, I’m sure you would still be the one. Tell me, how can I help you?” Her eyes searched through Dani’s face and then traveled down her body, her gaze staying a bit on the engagement ring and then going back up. Dani pondered about taking it off before entering the shop, but it would be senseless since Jamie had already seen the man.

“I wanted to…” 

She didn’t finish, she couldn’t finish; she actually had no idea of why she was there, all she knew was that she woke up with a deep tingling sensation on the back of her head and a strong need to see Jamie, it was like her body was aching from yearning, her heart was racing so much that she thought she was about to have a heart attack. Eddie even asked her if she wanted to be taken to the hospital, the girl brushed it off and said she was going for a walk to get some air. She did in fact walked around a bit, but before she even realized her body was standing outside the flower shop looking at how hot Jamie looked carrying the things around. 

“See you.” Simple as that the words came out of her mouth and her heart felt lighter. Dani knew she should feel ashamed of what she had just said, the girl was totally aware that it was embarrassing, but she just did not care, and when Jamie smiled and looked her dead in the eye with a glimpse of amusement in her eyes the blonde woman felt like that was the right thing to have said. 

Jamie could not answer that. She really wanted to say that Dani had been occupying her thoughts since the moment they saw each other for the first time; she wanted to tell her that today when Jamie woke up she felt her heart racing and every time her body was about to stand up her vision went black, her hands started to shake and all she could think of and see was Dani’s eyes; she wanted to tell that woman that the feeling of her fingers against her hand taking care of her lingered more than they should, lasting days and giving her a sort of peace her head and heart never felt before.

But, even though all of that was true, Dani had someone and Jamie would never dare to step in and ruin it, that’s just not who she was, so she told herself that maybe friends would be enough. The florist turned around and grabbed the bag of fertilizer she was carrying before the American came in. “You flirting with me Yankee?” She turned around and saw how the other girl’s cheek blushed. She looked adorable. 

“Something like that.” The tingly sensation came back and Dani raised her hand towards the back of her neck, that area was feeling warmer than normal, maybe she really needed to go see a doctor. “Could you maybe someday teach me how to take care of plants? Your flowers are really beautiful and I don’t want to get one and end up killing it.” It was not a total lie, but also not the whole truth. 

“Of course, drop by someday at the end of the day and I can give you some tips.” Jamie walked towards her and winked before she passed by and went towards one of the shelves full of plants behind Dani. “Your soulmate’s here.”

Dani wanted to say ‘Yes, it’s you.’, but instead she turned around and saw Eddie walking towards them with a confused look on his face, she took one last glance at Jamie and then he stepped into the shop breaking the tranquility that once lived in there. “Hi, what are you doing here?” His tone wasn’t rude at all, but something about the way he looked at Dani made Jamie uncomfortably move in her place, her hands full of dirt and her eyes watching the interaction through the reflection of the window. 

“I was… looking around.” Jamie internally laughed at how the American’s voice trembled. Dani avoided Eddie’s eyes, afraid that he would see something in there, something she had no idea of what it was.

“I didn’t know you liked flowers like that.” 

“Neither did I.” 

Eddie was watching her, trying to read something in her face and maybe he did because suddenly he shifted on his place and grabbed her hand, caressing the ring, maybe in an attempt to remember her that, technically, she belonged with him. She bit her bottom lip in a nervous way, her gaze flying around the room until they met Jamie’s eyes through the reflection, and then she remembered what viola once said during one of their encounters. 

“You will know when you find the person, the second I saw him I knew he was the one; I didn’t need the mark to tell me it. The way he looked at me, the way he smiled at me, the way he talked to me, the way he touched me, it all made me feel alive like nothing before. Even if the mark hadn’t appeared, I would still be with him, it just feels right. It feels like love… real love. The mark just assures you that what you feel is really what it seems like.” 

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The day Eddie was going to leave had finally arrived and she couldn’t be happier. She woke up earlier that morning, prepared them coffee and went out to buy a newspaper, her body flying around the street and her head feeling much better. The last week having him around was tough, specially the last two days. He started to insist on having sex and when Dani said she was on her period he started to get really intense on their make out sessions. The feeling of his mouth against hers was one of the worsts in the world, she tried to think of Jamie there, but she knew that if it was Jamie, it wouldn’t be so terrible.

“Hey, just received a call from the airport, seems like my flight had to be changed and it actually leaves in forty minutes, I’m sorry for it.” Dani had to control herself to not smile at that. “I’m just going to take a shower.” He went to the bathroom and she placed the newspaper and the cake she bought above the table. Looking around she realized how much she missed being alone in there. Trying to help Eddie, or help herself to be Dani decided to pack his things up for him, she grabbed his black suitcase and opened it above the bed. 

Some people would say it was luck, some people would say it was fate, Dani believes it was a mixture of both. The second she opened it she realized it was actually upside down and a paper fell out of one of the small pockets. 

“I love you Ed, I hope you come back soon so we can finally be together again. Please, I know you have her name on you, but this between us feels better. I can leave Ryan for you, leave Danielle for me. I’ll be waiting.” 

She was in shock. Her eyes reading over and over again the small piece of paper. Eddie was cheating on her; Eddie had someone else and still here he was, on the other side of the ocean trying to make Dani marry him. Everything because of a fucking stupid mark. She honestly had no idea what to do, should she pretend to not have read that? Should she confront him? Should she wait till he was in America to call him and talk about it? Should she let him go, change address, change name and pretend to have never been with him? 

“Love, have you seen my watch?” His voice was calm as ever, but then she turned towards him and he looked at the paper, his face went white and he took one step closer. “Dani, I-”

“You’re cheating on me…” She breathed out, her eyes focused on him, trying to understand why he was there with her, if he had someone who really loved him. Why was he in London? 

“I’m… I’m sorry, it was just a thing, it’s nothing darling I swear!” She didn’t believe in his words and by the look in his eyes neither did him. “I’m a man, I have needs and you are too far, but there’s no feelings involved, I promise!” Dani dropped her hand by her side and incredulous looked at the man in front of her. 

“Eddie? This person said she loves you, how’s there not feeling involved?” Maybe what surprised him the most wasn’t the fact that Dani was calm and still, maybe it was the fact that in her eyes he couldn’t see any kind of hurt, it was like the fact he cheated meant nothing to her. 

“I don’t feel the same!” The blonde woman frowned and looked at the paper again, instantly feeling sorry for the person who wrote that, maybe they were Eddie’s soulmate and she was standing in their way. “Dani, I need to catch my flight, please let’s talk later, I love you, you know that… We’re going to marry.” 

“No, we’re not.” The world seemed to stop when those words left her lips, the man frozen in place, they both knew what was going to happen. “We are not going to marry… I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.” Tears started to form in her eyes, happy tears. It felt so good to finally say that. 

“Danielle, it was just-” He tried to start, but she was not listening.

“How can I marry you when this person can be your soulmate?” He stepped closer and she made no attempt to move, her eyes focused on his brown gaze, trying to make him understand what she was saying.

“What do you mean? You are my soulmate, I have your name on me, we are meant to be together, Dani!” He was begging, pleading, almost crying. “I need to go, we are going to talk about this later, we love each other, we’re going to get through this.” Eddie headed towards his suitcase and suddenly she felt like her chance was slipping through her fingers, she needed to do something. Her eyes fell on the flowers that he had given her a few days before, she remembered Jamie and she remembered the feeling that woman gave her. If that was the feeling that unknown person was giving Eddie, she refused to stay in the middle of it. She turned around and opened her mouth, no sound came out, he started to walk towards the door and her brain screamed at her to do something. And so, she did.

“I don’t love you Eddie. I have never loved you, not in the romantic way, you were my best friend during years and you still are, but that’s it, I don’t love you.” He was looking at her like that was his worst nightmare, it probably really was. “You don’t love me either, if you did you wouldn’t have cheated on me. I don’t know why you keep trying to make this work, and don’t say it’s due to the mark because we both know it’s not. I don’t have your name and this is not a prank the universe played; this is just what it looks like: I’m not your twin-flame and you are not mine. This person, whoever they are, likes you, loves you, which is way more than anything I could ever give you. Edmund, you deserve to be happy and we know it’s not with me. I don’t wanna marry you and I don’t wanna date you, I never wanted it. I’m sorry for everything, all the years we spent together, I’m really sorry, but no matter how hard we try, it’s never going to work. We are not meant to each other.” 

They were stuck in place, he had tears in his eyes and she looked happy in a way she had never before, he looked around and tried to rearrange his thoughts, tried to think of something he would say that would make everything go back to normal. There wasn’t anything. So, he picked his suitcase and nodded, a silent agreement. Yes, this is over. His eyes refusing to look at her, and if she was going to be honest, she preferred it that way. 

He turned around and took the ring off, placed it above the small counter table and looked up, his hand holding the doorknob while he spoke. “I really loved you Dani, I don’t know what I did wrong for you to feel like that about me, but I really loved you.” 

Then, he was gone, and so, she was back. 

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Dani had never been a single woman, since she was a kid she had always been with Eddie, so the day he left she felt exhausted, happy, but too exhausted to think of anything other than “I’m single.”. 

The next day she sat around and realized that Eddie wasn’t part of her life in London, because of that the whole process of getting rid of his stuff was not needed, actually, the only thing there that belonged to him was the rings. Dani didn’t want to throw them away, not yet at least, so she kept them in the last drawer of her wardrobe, the same place she kept the objects that remembered her of her old life. She tried to take care of herself, tried to do what her mother called “Princess Day”, it was really stupid, but she laughed a little while doing it, so maybe it was worth.

The third day she woke up feeling like she was going out, maybe she would meet some people and have fun. Dani did everything right, ate breakfast at a decent time, made her own lunch instead of just grabbing something from the small restaurant two streets down that looked like they hadn’t been through health inspection since she was a child, she even cleaned her flat, not that it was dirty, but it wasn’t feeling like a refreshing place, like a 20 years old home should look like. She took a very much needed bath and tried to do her own make up, it looked terrible so she wiped it off and decided her bare face was enough, it was not like she was trying to impress someone.

An hour before she was supposed to leave the apartment it began to snow, the weather guy on the radio was as confused as her, there was no explanation for it, it was September after all. The sky was completely white and now the streets were white too, accepting her defeat she made a cup of hot chocolate and watched the street from the balcony. She watched as people would get into Jamie’s shop and would leave with beautiful flowers in their hands and a smile in their faces. She imagined Jamie carrying things around, she imagined Jamie talking to her while she treated of her plants, she imagined Jamie slowly walking towards her and giving her that look, she imagined Jamie leaning over, she imagined their lips touching and she imagined what that would feel like. 

With those thoughts filling her head she fell asleep without even realizing. Some time later she woke up to the feel of something hitting her face, something cold, a snow ball. Unless a blizzard had arrived in London there was no way that would’ve happened without a human being involved, she looked down prepared to see some kids laughing at her and she was more than surprised to see Jamie standing in the rooftop of her flower shop with a cigarette in one hand, a snow ball in the other and a smile on her face.

Dani wiped the snow off her face and got up, she leaned against the balcony wall that prevented her from falling on the street more times than she can recall. She watched as Jamie sat on a chair and placed her feet over a small table and winked at Dani. That woman was so pretty that it should be considered a crime. “Got kicked out of home?” 

“Yea, my roommate is having sex so I’m homeless for a day…” Dani raised an eyebrow and watched as Jamie breathed the smoke out and threw the butt in a small ashtray. Maybe that was Dani’s chance to finally do something.

“Do you wanna come over?” The florist seemed surprised by the sudden invitation, with a smirk she got up and winked at Dani. That was a yes. 

The American looked at her apartment and thanked herself for having the idea of cleaning the place, she walked towards the kitchen and thought about making some tea, but she knew how terrible her tea was. Opened the fridge and saw a bottle of wine and two cans of Coke, she remembered buying some bag of chips but Eddie probably had eaten all of them, she thought a lot of things, and they were all interrupted by the knocking in her door. Damn, Jamie was there and Dani was single.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

A box of pizza and a bottle of wine later and they were both sitting on the ground listening to the radio, Dani had her head against Jamie’s thighs and the florist was softly caressing her hair, she felt like at any moment she was about to fall asleep. 

“What happened to your ring?” Jamie spoke but her eyes remained on Dani’s face, she was trying to memorize every part of her face, every inch of her pretty features. 

“It’s locked in the lowest drawer…” Dani wanted to say more, but she was afraid that if she did, she would say too much. Her breath getting heavier as Jamie’s fingers traveled from her hair to her eyebrows. 

“Why’s that?” Softly brushing her eyelids.

“He was cheating on me…” It stopped.

“Dani… I’m so sorry…” Jamie remembered her father and how broken he used to ne when his mother would cheat on him, but he never had the power to leave her. That’s one of the reasons Jamie dislikes the ‘soulmates’ thing.

“It’s okay…” Her hands were trembling at how husky Dani’s voice was, the alcohol making the desire to kiss that girl almost taking control of her. “Yeah, I guess it’s okay.” 

“You believe in twin-flames?” Her hand now back with the soft touches, tracing the silhouette of the girl.

“Yeah… Don’t you?” Dani opened her eyes at the same time Jamie’s hand reached her lips, she could feel her breath speeding up and she could see that the florist was having a hard time too. She watched as soft lips opened and Jamie breathed out, she licked her lips and Dani could feel her heart racing and the back of her neck tingling. 

“I don’t know… Normally people get their mark at ten years old and well… It’s been a while since I was ten.” Dani laughed against her fingers. 

“Universe must be preparing something great for you…”

‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ started to play and Dani quickly got up extending her hand to Jamie. The florist then understood she was never going to say no to that woman, she hated to dance, but for Dani she would dance in the middle of the Tower Bridge. 

They were moving in the weirdest ways through the flat, the wine making the cold from the snow be unnoticed, they were having fun for the first time in a while. Sometime between ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing’ Dani found herself way too close to Jamie, like, dangerously close. She could smell Jamie’s hair and she could feel the air that was coming out of her mouth and hitting her cheek. Her hands traveling up through her arms and setting on her shoulders, her eyes focused on the red lips in front of her. Jamie touched their foreheads and slowly closed the distance between their bodies, her hand grabbing Dani’s waist and squeezing it a bit just to see her lips part. She thought about leaning it and closing the distance, but she didn’t want to seem insensitive, the girl just broke up with her boyfriend/fiancé/husband and there she was almost kissing the hell out of her, before she could think more into it and end up going home Dani kissed her.

It started softly, it was the first time the American girl was actually kissing a girl so she tried to do it as slow as possible, if it was also the last time she would have a great memory of it, but when she felt Jamie’s grip on her waist tightening her lips parted and she felt a warm tongue brushing against her lips. They deepened the kiss and she could feel her whole body warming up, it was like a bucket of hot water had been thrown at them. Her hand grabbed the back of Jamie’s neck, pulling her in, trying to get her as close as possible, she smiled when Jamie moaned, happy she wasn’t the only one who was a real mess. Her eyes rolled when Jamie lifted the edge of her blouse and touched her skin. 

“Jamie…” She whispered for no reason other than the pleasure of saying her name. The florist trailed her kisses up towards her mouth again and kissed her more intensely than it was before, they walked towards the wall and Jamie pressed her body against it, feeling the woman in front of her melting in her lips and hands. She wanted more, she wanted to touch Dani, all of her, she wanted to kiss her whole body, she wanted to lay with her in bed and spend her time doing what felt right. She wanted so much.

“He’s your soulmate?” Her voice shaky and her eyes still closed, Dani opened her eyes and watched the woman in front of her with confusion. “Because if he is… I don’t wanna be in the middle of it, I fancy you, but I don’t do this kind of things…” 

“He’s not.” 

They kissed again, and again, and again, and in some point they were laying in bed and Dani felt like she was going to explode, Jamie was soft and kind and she was all smiles in a way that Eddie never was and it was probably not his fault, but it wasn’t hers either, so when Jamie touched her in the right places and she moaned shamelessly letting the pleasure and realization control her. The woman had no idea what she was doing, but the florist knew and she did everything for the both of them. When they were finished, she looked at the ceiling and realized that Viola was right, she didn’t need a mark to tell her, she knew Jamie was the right person, she could feel it in her heart and in the back of her head.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Dani loved to celebrate New Year’s Day when she was a kid, it was nice to have the whole family together and she also loved the fireworks. Even when she was already a teenager, she liked the concept of it, she also enjoyed going to the parties, specially because in the biggest part of the times she went alone. Her mother was never at home and Eddie would always be traveling with his family, so she was free to go anywhere. In one New Year’s Day she ended up in another town with people she didn’t know and if she’s going to be honest that was the best New Year’s Day of her life. Until now.

Dani and Jamie were spending a lot of time together since that night, Dani would drop by at the flower shop and they would eat lunch together, somedays Jamie would go to her house at the end of the day and they would drink and eat and watch movies and… well, let’s say Dani is getting experience in the whole ‘sex life’ thing. . They were a couple and they knew it even before Jamie asked Dani to be her girlfriend. One night they were walking around a park close to Jamie’s apartment and she suddenly stopped and kissed Dani, the girl laughed and then Jamie asked if she wanted to be her girlfriend, she would never say no to that. It was a nice way to live; it was sweet and refreshing and Jamie enjoyed that so much that her friends were teasing her about having found her soulmate.

Jamie wanted that to be true, but the mark just didn’t seem to appear, she tried to brush it off and act cool about it, but the thought of Dani not being her person scared her more than she would admit. 

“It’s going to appear, my love.” Hannah told her one day after Owen and Rebecca had left to wash the dishes. “It will appear when you expect the less, one day you will just look at your body and that silly thing will be there.” 

“What if it’s not her?” Her voice lower, like she was scare to say that too loud and get a confirmation from the universe.

“I don’t think that’s possible, only a soulmate would get you whipped like that.”

She stopped in front of Dani’s apartment and looked at her hands holding the gift she got for the American girl, it’s not a tradition to give people on New Year’s Day, but that seemed the right thing to do. When the door opened, she watched as Dani’s eyes searched her face and then dropped to her arms. 

“You did not!” Her voice was happy, her eyes were happy and she looked so pretty that Jamie felt like she was going to pass out, the back of her neck itching and feeling hot. “Oh my god, what’s her name? I mean it’s a girl? When did you get it? Where did you get it?” She rambled picking the cat up and putting the little thing close to her face, her left hand reaching out and grabbing Jamie’s arm pushing her into the apartment and falling on the couch. Jamie allowed to be dragged inside and managed to kick the door closed.

“It’s a girl and she does not have a name. She’s from the shelter four streets down and  
sadly her mother passed away during birth, she was having a hard time, but now she’s good and will be even better cause you’re her mother.” Dani smiled and kissed her lips, humming against her mouth, the cat already walking around the flat, discovering her new home. “We have-” Jamie tried to start but Dani was already almost on top of her, the warm tongue discovering her mouth like it was the first time. “To close the door to the balcony…” Her voice was shaking as much as her hands while Dani tried to take her coat off. 

“Right… I’ll close it and you prepare our daughter’s food and water and litter box and bed and everything else while I get you your present.” The American got up rambling and looking a little lost, Jamie thought she was really cute, specially when she called the cat their daughter. 

“Hey…” She said picking the cat up an looking at Dani that had a soft look in her eyes. “I love you.” She wanted to say that she liked Dani, but before her brain could think her mouth was already spilling out the truth, she loved Dani. 

The blonde girl stood still, the beat of her heart invading her years and making her vision get blurry and tears start to form in her eyes, God, she was loved. Her body moved towards the brunette’s and she grabbed her face pressing their lips together, the small cat was licking her arm and she smiled feeling… peace. “I love you too.” She whispered against the red lips in front of her, her mind trying to calm her down while her heart was trying to make her as electric as possible. “And I don’t care if I don’t have a mark on me, you’re still my… everything. You’re my twin-flame, Jamie.” 

Two hours later they were lying in bed smoking weed and watching some fireworks through the window, at the end of the bed, sleeping, was the small cat, named Nala due to the resemblance of the small kitten to the lioness, and also because Dani was really obsessed with the movie that made her cry what seemed to be hours. Jamie was brushing her fingers through the other girl’s face, feeling the hot air coming out of her nose and her mouth. “Flora and Miles will love Nala…” Dani started to feel her body get warm so she sat up and placed her hair in a bun, when a response didn’t come out of her girlfriend’s mouth, she looked at Jamie, the florist looking like she had seen a ghost. “What?”

Jamie tried to understand how she hadn’t seen it before, trying to recall every night they’ve spent together and how many times she hugged Dani from behind, maybe the hair was always in the way, maybe it had appeared right there and right then, but there it was Jamie written perfectly in Dani’s neck, like a tattoo made by the best artist in the world, in perfect gold ink. “My name…” She whispered and sat beside the blonde girl reaching out to touch the skin, her fingers feeling cold but her body getting warm, her own neck tingling and getting hot. 

“What?” Dani whispered and walked towards the bathroom, the name shining on her skin. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. She really was her twin-flame. She turned around and the woman was standing there looking mesmerized, she walked to the florist and touched her neck, she knew her name was there too, she could feel it. “I knew it…” They kissed, one, two, three, four, five times. She was as happy as a human being could possibly be. “How were we so blind to not see it?” She laughed against Jamie’s mouth.

“I guess your hair messed things up…” 

“If you allowed me to be the big spoon, we would’ve known it earlier…” Her hands grabbing Jamie’s waist and guiding her towards the bed. 

“Shut up…” They fell onto bed and the cat walked towards them interrupting the moment by licking their faces. “She likes us.”

“That’s good because she’s not going anywhere.” They stared at each other’s eyes and love filled them up, the world was still not the best place, but it was a bit better now for the two of them. “Neither are you Jamie Taylor…” 

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Some years later Dani will be working as a teacher and at the end of the day she will receive a call from the principal’s secretary announcing that a new kid was arriving the next day but her mother wanted to talk to the teacher first, she will enter the principal’s room and a pair of known blue eyes will meet hers, Viola will smile to her just like she had done years before. They will hug and Dani will discover that Viola is pregnant of her second kid and that she named her first daughter “Danielle” after the blonde woman. 

Dani will tell her that she finally found her twin-flame, Viola will ask to see the name and then she would sigh in surprise when her eyes land on the golden color, she will explain that she was searching and learning about twin-flames during all those years and that she discovered that sometimes the twin-flame bond is so strong that these type of souls are marked to eternity with their lover’s name. She will tell Dani that Jamie’s name had always been in her, because in reality it was in her soul, the reason no one was able to see it it’s because the name only appears when there’s a real love exchange between the souls. Then, she will explain that Dani will always be called Danielle and her wife will always be called Jamie, in every life they live. Different from the other souls that can assume different genders, nationalities and names, theirs is defined to be like that. That’s how it’s meant to be, that’s what universe decided their fate to be. Dani will cry because she trusted Viola then and she trusts her now, she knows Viola is one of her soulmates and she knows that woman is her friend since long before that life.

They will have a diner that night and Dani will reveal to Viola and her husband, Jamie, Hannah, Owen and Rebeca that she’s pregnant. Six years later during a movie night at Dani’s and Jamie’s house they will discover that their daughter, Sarah, and Viola’s second daughter, Emma, are twin-flames, and it will be easy and simple. Time will pass by and one night when they’re really old and really tired they will hug each other and say they love each other for the last time, and when Dani dreams her last dream that night she will remember her past and she won’t regret anything, she will feel like it was all meant to be, and it really was, and it will always be for


End file.
